London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is hoping a successful pursuit of Mathieu Debuchy will help to secure the club's biggest names.

The Magpies are hopeful of pushing through their protracted move for the 27-year-old Lille full-back later this week after tracking the France international for more than a year.

Pardew said: "When you sign good, senior international players, which he is, it's going to give everybody a boost, your senior players too. I hope that's the case - but we are still far from a deal yet."

In the short term, Pardew's only focus, however, is Wednesday night's clash with Everton in which the Magpies will attempt to avoid a ninth defeat in just 11 Barclays Premier League games.

That sequence of results culminated in a remarkable pair of fixtures in the immediate aftermath of Christmas, which saw Newcastle visit Manchester United and Arsenal in quick succession and score three goals on both occasions.

However, the fact that they conceded four at Old Trafford and, in a kamikaze conclusion to the game, seven at the Emirates Stadium, meant they returned home with nothing to show for their efforts.

The task gets little easier back on Tyneside as Everton are smarting from their 2-1 home defeat by Chelsea on Sunday despite taking the lead and with the influential Marouane Fellaini back among their ranks following his three-match ban.

Pardew, who could be forgiven for bemoaning his current run of fortune, said with a smile: "We are expecting them to sign Ronaldo tomorrow.

"We are accepting all of that, we really have to turn a blind eye to all of that. We are not really bothered, we just know it's about us.

"We are at home and our fans have been brilliant. They have stayed with us through this difficult, difficult period and I hope we can reward them."